Using nanowires to connect semiconductor components
By setting a conductive coating on the insulating layer between the semiconductor component and the contact and using nanowires for connection, the problem of full-area conductivity and heat dissipation of semiconductor components such as SiC MOSFETs is solved, achieving reliable connection and efficient heat dissipation, and simplifying the production process.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- NANOWIRED GMBH
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-13
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing technologies make it difficult to reliably connect semiconductor components such as SiC MOSFETs to contacts with full-area conductive and/or thermally conductive connections, especially in the presence of guard rings and gate contacts. This results in uneven bonding pressure, which can easily lead to cracking and heat dissipation difficulties.
A conductive and/or thermally conductive coating is applied to the insulating layer of the central layer, and the top-side contacts of the semiconductor component are connected to the contact body via nanowires. The high-density connection of the nanowires enables full-area conductivity and/or thermal conductivity, compensating for differences in thermal expansion and mechanical stress.
This achieves a reliable and uniform connection between semiconductor components and contacts, reduces the risk of breakage, improves heat dissipation efficiency, simplifies the manufacturing process, and reduces the use of bonding wires.
Smart Images
Figure CN122498293A_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] This invention relates to a device having a semiconductor component connected to a contact such as a heat sink. The semiconductor component may be, for example, a MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) transistor.
[0002] The development of modern inverters with power semiconductors in green energy, EVs (electric vehicles), solar energy, and industrial motors is rapidly shifting from IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) / Si (silicon) based technologies to SiC-MOSFET (Silicon Carbide Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) based technologies or GaN (Gallium Nitride) transistor and GaN-MOSFET based technologies. The advantages of these new technologies lie not only in the higher temperatures that the new semiconductor materials can withstand compared to Si, but also in the high switching frequencies achievable with these semiconductor modules. Higher switching frequencies not only allow for better tuning of the ideal sine wave, but also reduce the additional capacitance and inductance required in the resonant circuit.
[0003] Currently, the connection methods used to connect power semiconductors are soldering, silver sintering, and wire bonding. The advantage of solder is that the chip can be immersed in the paste-like connection medium under only slight pressure. In contrast, the silver sintering process requires a bonding pressure of approximately 20 MPa. As long as the bonding pressure can be applied to the entire area of the semiconductor material, the risk of semiconductor material breakage is low. Therefore, silver sintering is not performed on the top side.
[0004] The advantages of SiC applications are offset by new challenges arising from the altered material properties of SiC compared to Si. SiC is significantly harder and more brittle than Si. The elastic properties of Si allow for electrical contact across the entire bottom surface of the Si chip using a simple copper / alumina / copper sandwich structure. Due to the lower temperatures in Si applications, it is typically possible to contact the Si chip not only from the top side using a sufficient number of bonding wires. Furthermore, the bonding wires can aid in heat dissipation from the semiconductor assembly. The shift to SiC means that in many relevant cases, heat dissipation can no longer be achieved solely through bonding wire systems. For example, the increased power density in SiC MOSFETs or SiC diodes often requires large heat dissipation areas on both sides to achieve adequate cooling. However, full-area contact on the SiC semiconductor surface is difficult for various reasons. First, insulating elements (so-called guard rings) composed of, for example, polyimide are typically located on the surface of the semiconductor assembly. These guard rings are used, for example, to reduce the voltage difference between the source and drain contacts and to ensure no short circuits occur. On the other hand, the gate contact is typically located on the top side of the MOSFET semiconductor assembly. This contact is necessary for controlling the transistor and must be insulated from other contact areas. In standard processes, the gate is contacted via bonding wires. In this case, full-area bonding is difficult to achieve due to the presence of the guard ring and / or gate, in order to cool the top side of the semiconductor component. Therefore, the heat sink to be applied typically must have cutouts for the guard ring and / or gate. These cutouts must be designed with considerable leeway due to the need to account for bonding tolerances. If the heat sink covering this portion is subsequently pressed onto the SiC semiconductor component, this inevitably results in areas on the SiC semiconductor component where no bonding pressure is applied. Adjacent to these areas, a bonding pressure of, for example, 20 MPa is applied. This leads to a high breakage rate. Also disadvantageous is that, in addition to the thermal load during the soldering or sintering process, the component must undergo further final contact processes, such as contacting the gate with bonding wires.
[0005] The above discussion primarily concerns the challenges of contact in SiC semiconductor components, such as SiC MOSFETs. However, similar difficulties arise with other materials, such as GaN. Contact difficulties may also occur with other semiconductor components.
[0006] Typically, difficulties arise when attempting to electrically and / or thermally connect semiconductor components to contacts. This is primarily due to the connection not being reliably maintained.
[0007] One object of the present invention is to connect semiconductor components to contacts in a particularly reliable manner.
[0008] These objectives are achieved by the means according to independent claim 1. Further advantageous configurations are described in the dependent claims. The features set forth in the claims and the specification can be combined with each other in any technically meaningful manner.
[0009] This invention proposes a device having:
[0010] A semiconductor assembly having a first top-side contact on the top side.
[0011] The device has an electrically insulating central layer, wherein the connecting element has a first conductive and / or thermally conductive coating in a first portion at the bottom side of the central layer, and wherein the connecting element has a second conductive and / or thermally conductive coating at least partially formed in the first portion of the connecting element at the top side of the central layer, wherein the first coating and the second coating are electrically and / or thermally connected to each other by means of through-holes through the central layer.
[0012] Contact body,
[0013] The first coating of the connecting element is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first top-side contact of the semiconductor component by means of a first plurality of nanowires, and the second coating of the connecting element is electrically and / or thermally connected to the contact body by means of a second plurality of nanowires.
[0014] The described device has a semiconductor component. This can be an electronic component, such as a transistor, diode, computer chip, power microcontroller, AI (Artificial Intelligence) microcontroller, graphics controller, power module, or processor. In particular, the semiconductor component can be a MOSFET. The semiconductor component can also be referred to as a semiconductor chip. The semiconductor component can be, for example, a component of a power computer. The invention described herein relates to the problem of how to contact the semiconductor component. Here, the way the semiconductor component functions is not important. It is sufficient that the semiconductor component has a contact on its top side. This contact is described as a first top-side contact to distinguish it from the contacts further described below. However, this name does not necessarily imply the existence of another top-side contact. The first top-side contact is named the first top-side contact merely for linguistic simplicity, and particularly to distinguish it from the second top-side contact further described below. The first top-side contact is preferably formed of a metal, such as copper, silver, or gold. The first top-side contact can also be formed as a layer system composed of multiple metals.
[0015] Many semiconductor components have multiple contacts. For example, diodes typically have two contacts, while transistors have three. However, the invention described herein can be advantageously used if a single contact is contacted. The presence of additional contacts and whether they are contacted by known means are not important to the invention. For example, the invention can also be applied to semiconductor components with more than one power contact, particularly in the case of GaN semiconductor components. Then, one of the power contacts can be the first top-side contact described herein. For example, further power contacts can be contacted by means of a corresponding additional coating of the central layer.
[0016] The device also includes a contact. The contact is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first top-side contact. The contact is preferably used for cooling semiconductor components. In this respect, the contact may also be referred to as a heat sink. However, the contact may alternatively or additionally function as an electrical contact. Generally, the function of the contact is not important to the invention described herein. Therefore, the term "contact" is generally used herein. The heat sink is preferably formed of metal, such as copper.
[0017] To ensure a particularly reliable connection between the contact and the first top-side contact, a connecting element is provided. The connecting element is arranged between the semiconductor assembly and the contact. The connecting element abuts against the top side of the semiconductor assembly on one side and against the bottom side of the contact on the other side. The connecting element is connected to the top side of the semiconductor assembly on one side and to the bottom side of the contact on the other side. In this respect, the connecting element can be considered as a medium for connection.
[0018] The connecting element has an electrically insulating central layer. The central layer is preferably flexible. In principle, the top and bottom sides of the connecting element are electrically insulated from each other by the insulating layer. Conductive coatings can be used to achieve electrical and / or thermal conductivity in localized areas on the bottom and top sides. The coatings on the top and bottom sides of the connecting element can be electrically and / or thermally connected to each other by means of targeted through-holes through the central layer. Depending on the specific application, the coatings on the top and bottom sides can be positioned differently and connected differently to each other. In this respect, the electrical insulation configuration of the central layer achieves great flexibility.
[0019] The connecting element is preferably an elastic and plastic insulator, partially clad on both sides with a conductive and / or thermally conductive material, such as copper. In this case, the cladding layer preferably follows the layout of the semiconductor assembly. It provides sufficient material for conductivity and / or thermal conductivity. The central layer can be referred to as the insulator. Numerous tiny drill holes can be positioned through the insulator and subsequently filled with, for example, copper, connecting the top and bottom sides of the connecting element to each other locally conductively and / or thermally. This is a via. The latter can provide material for conductivity and / or thermal conductivity purposes.
[0020] In the most general case initially considered herein, it is sufficient for the connecting element to have a first conductive and / or thermally conductive coating on the bottom side of the central layer and a second conductive and / or thermally conductive coating on the top side of the central layer. The first coating is formed in a first region. This means that the first coating is formed in a part or the entire first portion, but does not extend beyond the first portion. The first portion is a part of the connecting element. This should be understood to mean that the first portion constitutes a part of the area of the connecting element. The second coating is formed at least partially in the first portion of the connecting element. Thus, the first and second coatings overlap each other. However, in principle, the first and second coatings are separated from each other by the electrically insulating central layer. However, this separation is locally overcome because the first and second coatings are electrically and / or thermally connected to each other by means of through-holes through the central layer. As previously stated, this is possible because the first and second coatings overlap each other. The through-holes are preferably located in the overlapping region of the first and second coatings.
[0021] The first coating is preferably formed of metal, such as copper. The second coating is preferably formed of metal, such as copper. The through-hole is preferably formed of metal, such as copper.
[0022] The first coating preferably has a thickness in the range of 5 µm to 70 µm, for example, 17 µm. The second coating preferably has a thickness in the range of 10 µm to 300 µm, for example, 70 µm. The first coating is preferably thinner than the second coating, preferably at least twice as thin, and particularly preferably at least five times as thin. With this configuration, the connecting element can compensate for the different degrees of thermal expansion between the semiconductor component and the contact body particularly well.
[0023] Typically, the coating at the bottom side of the central layer preferably has a layer thickness in the range of 5 µm to 70 µm (e.g., 17 µm), and / or the coating at the top side of the central layer has a layer thickness in the range of 10 µm to 300 µm (e.g., 70 µm). The coating at the bottom side of the central layer is preferably thinner than the coating at the top side of the central layer, preferably at least twice as thin, and particularly preferably at least five times as thin.
[0024] A conductive and / or thermally conductive connection is formed between a first top-side contact and a contact body of a semiconductor component via a connecting element. For this purpose, the first top-side contact is connected to a first coating, the first coating is connected to a second coating via a through-hole, and the second coating is connected to the contact body. The materials involved in these connections are conductive and / or thermally conductive.
[0025] The first coating of the connecting element is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first top-side contact of the semiconductor assembly via a first plurality of nanowires. The second coating of the connecting element is electrically and / or thermally connected to the contact via a second plurality of nanowires.
[0026] These connections are formed using corresponding multiple nanowires. The following explanation applies to the first and second multiple nanowires in each case, and also to the further multiple nanowires described below. Here, nanowire (or “NanoWire”) is understood to mean any material volume having a linear form and a size ranging from a few nanometers to a few micrometers. Nanowires can, for example, have a circular, elliptical, or polygonal base area. In particular, nanowires can have a hexagonal base area.
[0027] Preferably, all nanowires are formed of the same material. Particularly preferred are nanowires formed of the same material as the regions by which they are connected. The fact that nanowires participate in conductive and / or thermally conductive connections means that nanowires are conductive and / or thermally conductive. Preferably, nanowires are formed of a metal (e.g., copper).
[0028] Preferably, the nanowires have a length in the range of 100 nm to 100 µm, particularly in the range of 500 nm to 60 µm. Furthermore, the nanowires preferably have a diameter in the range of 10 nm to 10 µm, particularly in the range of 30 nm to 2 µm. Here, the term "diameter" refers to the circular base area; if the base area deviates from a circle, a similar definition of diameter applies. It is particularly preferred that all nanowires used have the same length and the same diameter.
[0029] The nanowires are preferably perpendicular to the regions where connections are made using the nanowires.
[0030] Because nanowires are extremely small, a large number of nanowires can be used. This results in a relatively large contact area. Therefore, connections made with nanowires exhibit particularly good electrical and / or thermal conductivity. Connections can be formed using nanowires at a relatively low cost. For this purpose, various possibilities are known from the prior art, and all of these possibilities can be used here. In particular, it is sufficient to provide nanowires only on one bonding partner (e.g., on the coating of the central layer of the connecting element), for example, by electroplating growth. It is not necessary but also possible to provide nanowires on the contact areas of the respective bonding partners. Connections can be formed simply by bringing the bonding partners together. Applying pressure and heating are optional. It is preferred to heat to at least 90°C to 150°C, especially when the nanowires are only placed on one of the bonding partners to be connected to each other. Alternatively, the bonding partners can be bonded together, where multiple nanowires create electrical and thermal contacts through an adhesive, and the adhesive achieves mechanical bonding.
[0031] In a preferred embodiment of the device, the semiconductor components are formed using SiC and / or GaN.
[0032] The use of SiC and / or GaN makes it possible to utilize the advantages of the corresponding semiconductor components known in the prior art. These advantages have been described in the section introducing the prior art. Here, the use of interconnecting elements allows for overcoming the difficulties arising from the use of these materials. In particular, interconnecting elements enable exceptionally good heat dissipation. This allows the semiconductor components to operate at exceptionally high power.
[0033] However, as an alternative to this embodiment, the semiconductor component can also be formed, for example, using Si.
[0034] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the semiconductor component and the contact have different coefficients of thermal expansion.
[0035] One of the challenges of using SiC and / or GaN is thermal expansion. This is less of a problem for Si, for example, because Si semiconductor components typically operate at lower temperatures. Thermal expansion is particularly critical when components connected to each other, as in this embodiment, have different coefficients of thermal expansion. However, the interconnecting elements can compensate for the different thermal expansion of the semiconductor components and the contacts. This is primarily due to the nanowires, and secondarily to the electrically insulating central layer with vias. For example, this design is typically much more flexible than a pure copper interconnect.
[0036] Because the central layer with through-holes acts as a resilient internal plastic insulator, the system created using the connecting elements still provides a continuous conductive path from the first top-side contact to the contact body. In terms of thickness, the central layer can be adapted to the application requirements. As a result, optimal electrical and / or thermal conductivity, as well as optimal elasticity, are achieved to compensate for differences in thermal expansion between the semiconductor component and the contact body, and to compensate for mechanical stress in the plane perpendicular to the bonding area.
[0037] The greater the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the semiconductor component and the contact, the more pronounced the advantages of the invention described herein become. Therefore, it is preferable that the coefficients of thermal expansion of the semiconductor component and the contact differ by at least 50%.
[0038] The coefficient of thermal expansion of a semiconductor component affects the entire semiconductor component. If the semiconductor component is, for example, a SiC chip or a GaN chip, then the coefficient of thermal expansion of the semiconductor component is the same as that of SiC or GaN, respectively.
[0039] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the central layer of the connecting element has a thickness in the range of 5µm to 60µm.
[0040] These thicknesses have been found to be particularly suitable.
[0041] In a further preferred embodiment, the device further includes a substrate, wherein the semiconductor component has a bottom-side contact at the bottom side, the bottom-side contact being electrically and / or thermally connected to a first contact area of the substrate.
[0042] In this embodiment, the semiconductor component has contacts on both sides, which is desirable in many applications. Therefore, the semiconductor component has a bottom contact in addition to a first top-side contact. The function of a single contact is not important to the invention described herein. With the help of contacts on both sides, the semiconductor component in this embodiment can be considered as being embedded between two elements (a substrate and a contact). The substrate may be formed differently from the contact, but this is not mandatory. The semiconductor component may also be embedded between two elements of the same type, one of which is referred to herein as a contact and the other as a substrate. If the contact is referred to as the first contact, the substrate can generally also be referred to as the second contact.
[0043] The contact on the bottom side is achieved by electrically and / or thermally connecting the semiconductor component to the first contact area of the substrate via bottom-side contacts. Further configuration of the substrate is not critical. For example, a simple Si substrate can be used. The bottom-side contacts are preferably formed of metal, such as copper, silver, or gold. The bottom-side contacts can also be formed as a layer system composed of multiple metals.
[0044] The contact area described herein is referred to as the first contact area to distinguish it from the second contact area described further below. However, this name does not necessarily imply the existence of a further contact area. It is simply referred to as the first contact area for linguistic simplicity.
[0045] The bottom-side contacts are preferably electrically and / or thermally connected to the first contact area of the substrate via a fourth plurality of nanowires. The above statements regarding nanowire connections apply accordingly to this connection. By using nanowire contacts as bottom-side contacts, not only are the generally known advantages of such connections utilized in this respect, but the semiconductor component can also be connected to both the contact and the substrate in a single, simple bonding step. This facilitates manufacturing. In particular, compared to prior art, not only can wire bonding processes be eliminated, but the bonding process can also be accelerated by up to 50%.
[0046] The bottom-side contacts can also be electrically and / or thermally connected to the first contact area of the substrate by means of further connecting elements. The connecting elements can be connected to the bottom-side contacts and / or the first contact area of the substrate by means of multiple nanowires. The further connecting elements can be formed similarly to those described herein, or differently, for example, formed as fully conductive. During device manufacturing, the components to be connected to each other (substrate, semiconductor components, and contacts) can be pressed together. In this case, forces can be introduced onto the semiconductor components across the entire area on both sides. This reduces the risk of the semiconductor components breaking during bonding. Furthermore, this embodiment is particularly efficient in dissipating heat from both sides of the semiconductor components.
[0047] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the semiconductor component further has a second top-side contact at the top side, wherein the connecting element has a third conductive and / or thermally conductive coating in a second portion (arranged next to the first portion) at the bottom side of the central layer, wherein the first coating and the third coating are electrically insulated from each other, and wherein the third coating of the connecting element is electrically and / or thermally connected to the second top-side contact of the semiconductor component by means of a third plurality of nanowires.
[0048] This embodiment is more specific than the general case described above because it now also utilizes the possibility of having multiple coatings on one side of the central layer of the connecting element. For this purpose, the connecting element has a third coating on its bottom side in addition to the first coating. These coatings are arranged adjacent to each other and are electrically insulated from each other. This means that the first and third coatings are arranged in a spaced-apart manner.
[0049] The connecting element is connected to the second top-side contact via a third coating. This connection is also formed by multiple nanowires. The above statements regarding nanowire connections apply accordingly to this connection. The second top-side contact can be contacted via this connection. This is made possible by contacting the third coating of the connecting element. How and where the contact occurs is generally not important. The conductive path from the second top-side contact first passes through the third coating. The conductive path can run entirely on the bottom side of the central layer. However, there is no reason to object to laying the conductive path from the second top-side contact to the top side of the central layer via vias. This operation can be performed as an alternative or supplement to wiring on the bottom side. Theoretically, the conductive path can alternate between the top and bottom sides as needed. A relevant example in practice is a configuration in which the connecting element has a fourth conductive and / or thermally conductive coating that is spaced apart from the second coating, overlaps with the third coating, and is conductively and / or thermally connected to the third coating via vias through the central layer. In this case, the second top-side contact can be contacted via the top side of the connecting element.
[0050] Typically, interconnects offer a wide range of possibilities for how conductive paths are led out from the contacts on the top side of a semiconductor component. For this purpose, interconnects can also be formed as multilayer structures. For example, an interconnect can have two or more central layers, with a coating disposed between two central layers. In this respect, it is also possible for more than two conductive paths to be led out in parallel, electrically insulated from each other.
[0051] In many applications, it is desirable that only the first top-side contact is electrically connected to the contact body, while the second top-side contact is electrically insulated from the contact body. This is possible even if the conductive path extends partially from the second top-side contact at the top side of the connecting element. For example, this can be achieved simply by having a cutout in the area of the conductive path, or even by not extending into that area from the outset. In this case, the aforementioned advantages regarding the full-area configuration of the contact body are indeed partially lost. However, such a solution remains advantageous compared to solutions in the prior art. One of the main advantages of this embodiment of the invention is the elimination of the bonding wire, thus eliminating the need for a correspondingly sized space for the contact body.
[0052] For example, the connecting element can be designed such that the conduction path from the first top-side contact of the semiconductor component is relayed via a via located on the top side of the central layer after passing through the central layer, while the conduction path from the second top-side contact is guided on the bottom side of the central layer. This ensures that the second top-side contact is made in a manner electrically insulated from the first top-side contact.
[0053] The second top-side contact is preferably formed of metal, such as copper, silver, or gold. The second top-side contact can also be formed as a layer system composed of multiple metals. The third coating is preferably formed of metal, such as copper.
[0054] The third coating preferably has a thickness in the range of 5 µm to 70 µm, for example, 17 µm. The third coating preferably has the same thickness as the first coating. Preferably, both the first and third coatings are thinner than the second coating, preferably at least twice as thin, and particularly preferably at least five times as thin.
[0055] In this embodiment, the semiconductor component has three contacts. For example, it can be formed as a MOSFET. In this case, for example, the first top-side contact can be a source contact, the second top-side contact can be a gate contact, and the bottom-side contact can be a drain contact. However, this contact arrangement is not important here. Similarly, in this embodiment, the specific form of the semiconductor component is generally not important.
[0056] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the contact is arranged at least partially above the first top-side contact and at least partially above the second top-side contact.
[0057] A particularly advantageous feature is that the third coating provides electrical insulation to the top through an electrically insulating central layer. The contact can therefore be positioned above the second top-side contact without being electrically connected to it. This solves the problem described above regarding the prior art configuration where the gate contact, serving as the second top-side contact, is contacted with a bonding wire. In such a configuration, the contact can only be formed laterally next to the gate contact to allow space for the bonding wire. In contrast, this embodiment allows for full-area connection between the contact and the semiconductor component. Therefore, uniform contact pressure can be used during device manufacturing. This reduces stress and prevents or reduces the risk of semiconductor component breakage during contact connection. Furthermore, alignment of the bonding partners becomes simpler during the bonding process because all components to be connected to each other (substrate, semiconductor component, and contact) can have the same dimensions.
[0058] Furthermore, the invention described herein enables the formation of contacts, preferably for heat dissipation, across the entire area of the semiconductor component. In this respect, an extremely large amount of material can be provided for heat dissipation purposes.
[0059] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, an electrically insulating separator is arranged on the top side of the semiconductor component between the first top-side contact and the second top-side contact of the semiconductor component.
[0060] The electrically insulating separator element is preferably formed of polyimide. Particularly preferably, the separator element is formed as a protective ring. Such a configuration is known from the prior art itself. However, in conjunction with the invention described herein, the advantage provided is that the separator element can be pressed against the electrically insulating center layer of the connecting element during the bonding process. Even if the separator element and / or the center layer is damaged during this process, the electrically insulating configuration of the center layer will still ensure electrical insulation between the first top-side contact and the second top-side contact.
[0061] The use of nanowires for connection allows unevenness, particularly that caused by the separating elements, to be compensated for. This is also true in a particularly preferred embodiment, where there are no nanowires or conductive and / or thermally conductive coatings within the separating element region of the connecting element.
[0062] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the second coating of the connecting element also extends into the second portion of the connecting element.
[0063] Due to the electrical insulation configuration of the core layer, the second coating on the top side of the core layer does not necessarily have to be limited to the first portion. Alternatively, the second coating can extend into the area above the second top-side contact without being electrically connected to it. This provides a particularly large area for heating and connecting the contacts.
[0064] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the second portion of the connecting element extends laterally beyond the semiconductor assembly.
[0065] In this embodiment, the second top-side contact can be contacted extremely well even if the contact extends over the entire extent of the semiconductor component. For this purpose, the second portion with the second coating extends laterally into the region adjacent to the semiconductor component.
[0066] In this embodiment, it is essentially irrelevant whether the conductive and / or thermally conductive connections leading to the second top contact are led out only on the bottom side of the central layer or partially on the top side as well. A particularly simple configuration is one where the conductive and / or thermally conductive connections leading to the second top contact are led out only on the bottom side of the central layer. In this case, the third coating is sufficient for connecting the second top contact. However, in this embodiment, there is also no reason to object to laying the conductive path from the second top contact to the top side of the central layer via through-holes, provided that electrical insulation from the contact body is ensured.
[0067] In a further preferred embodiment of the device, the third coating of the connecting element is connected to a second contact area of the substrate laterally adjacent to the semiconductor component.
[0068] The second contact area is preferably electrically insulated from the first contact area. This avoids short circuits between the second top and bottom contacts, which is desirable for many applications. The second top contact can be contacted via the second contact area.
[0069] Alternatively or additionally, the connecting element may also be configured such that the first top-side contact can be contacted laterally adjacent to the semiconductor component (e.g., by means of a third contact area of the substrate).
[0070] As an alternative to this embodiment, the second top-side contact is not connected to the second contact area of the substrate, but rather to the contact area of a further component. The second top-side contact can also be contacted in this manner.
[0071] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings illustrate particularly preferred exemplary embodiments, but the invention is not limited thereto. The figures and the relative dimensions shown are merely schematic. In the drawings:
[0072] Figure 1 The apparatus according to the present invention is shown.
[0073] Figure 1 The device 1 shown includes a substrate 2, a semiconductor component 3, a connecting element 4, and a contact 5. The semiconductor component 3 and the contact 5 have different coefficients of thermal expansion.
[0074] Semiconductor component 3 has a first top-side contact 9 and a second top-side contact 10 at the top side 7, and a bottom-side contact 8 at the bottom side 6. Semiconductor component 3 is formed of SiC and / or GaN. Semiconductor component 3 can be, for example, a MOSFET transistor. In this case, the first top-side contact 9 can be a source contact, the second top-side contact 10 can be a gate contact, and the bottom-side contact 8 can be a drain contact.
[0075] The connecting element 4 has an electrically insulating central layer 11. The central layer 11 of the connecting element 4 has a thickness ranging from 5 µm to 60 µm. In the first portion 12, the connecting element 4 has a first conductive and / or thermally conductive coating 16 and a third electrically insulating and / or thermally insulating coating 18 at the bottom side 14 of the central layer 11. At the top side 15 of the central layer 11, the connecting element 4 has a second conductive and / or thermally conductive coating 17, which extends partially in the first portion 12 of the connecting element 4 and extends beyond it into the second portion 13 of the connecting element 4. The first coating 16 and the second coating 17 are electrically and / or thermally connected to each other by means of a through-hole 19 through the central layer 11. The first coating 16 and the third coating 18 are electrically insulating to each other.
[0076] The first coating 16 of the connecting element 4 is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first top-side contact 9 of the semiconductor component 3 via first multiple nanowires 20. The second coating 17 of the connecting element 4 is electrically and / or thermally connected to the contact body 5 via second multiple nanowires 21. The third coating 18 of the connecting element 4 is electrically and / or thermally connected to the second top-side contact 10 of the semiconductor component 3 via third multiple nanowires 22. The bottom-side contact 8 of the semiconductor component 3 is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first contact area 25 of the substrate 2 via fourth multiple nanowires 23.
[0077] Between the first top-side contact 9 and the second top-side contact 10 of the semiconductor assembly 3, a protective ring as an electrically insulating separator element 24 is arranged at the top side 7 of the semiconductor assembly (3). Additional separator elements 24 of this type are formed at the edges of the semiconductor assembly 3.
[0078] The contact 5 is partially arranged above the first top-side contact 9 and partially arranged above the second top-side contact 10.
[0079] The second portion 13 of the connecting element 4 extends laterally to the right beyond the semiconductor assembly 3. As a result, the third coating 18 of the connecting element 4 can potentially connect to the second contact area 26 of the substrate 2 laterally adjacent to the semiconductor assembly 3. This allows contact with the second top-side contact 10.
[0080] List of reference numerals
[0081] 1 device
[0082] 2 substrate
[0083] 3 Semiconductor Components
[0084] 4 Connecting elements
[0085] 5 Contact bodies
[0086] 6. Bottom side of semiconductor components
[0087] 7. Top side of semiconductor components
[0088] 8 Bottom side contacts
[0089] 9 First top side contact
[0090] 10 Second top side contact
[0091] 11. Central Layer
[0092] 12 Part 1
[0093] 13 Part Two
[0094] 14. Bottom side of the central layer
[0095] 15. Top side of the central layer
[0096] 16 First conductive coating
[0097] 17 Second conductive coating
[0098] 18 Third conductive coating
[0099] 19 Through Holes
[0100] 20 First Multiple Nanowires
[0101] 21. The second most nanowire
[0102] 22 Third Multiple Nanowires
[0103] 23. The fourth multiple nanowires
[0104] 24. Separating elements
[0105] 25 First Contact Zone
[0106] 26 Second Contact Zone
[0107] 27. The fifth multi-nanowire
Claims
1. An apparatus (1), the apparatus (1) comprising: A semiconductor component (3) having a first top-side contact (9) at a top side (7). Connecting element (4), the connecting element (4) having an electrically insulating central layer (11), wherein, The connecting element (4) has a first conductive and / or thermally conductive coating (16) in a first portion (12) on the bottom side (14) of the central layer (11), wherein the connecting element (4) has a second conductive and / or thermally conductive coating (17) at least partially formed in the first portion (12) of the connecting element (4) on the top side (15) of the central layer (11), wherein the first coating (16) and the second coating (17) are electrically and / or thermally connected to each other by means of a through-hole (19) through the central layer (11). Contact body (5), The first coating (16) of the connecting element (4) is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first top-side contact (9) of the semiconductor component (3) by means of a first plurality of nanowires (20), and the second coating (17) of the connecting element (4) is electrically and / or thermally connected to the contact body (5) by means of a second plurality of nanowires (21).
2. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein, The semiconductor component (3) is formed using SiC and / or GaN.
3. The apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The semiconductor component (3) and the contact (5) have different coefficients of thermal expansion.
4. The apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The central layer (11) of the connecting element (4) has a thickness in the range of 5µm to 60µm.
5. The device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device (1) further comprises a substrate (2), wherein, The semiconductor component (3) has a bottom contact (8) at the bottom side (6), which is electrically and / or thermally connected to the first contact area (25) of the substrate (2).
6. The apparatus (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The semiconductor component (3) further has a second top-side contact (10) at the top side (7), wherein the connecting element (4) has a conductive and / or thermally conductive third coating (18) in a second portion (13) at the bottom side (14) of the central layer (11), the second portion being arranged next to the first portion (12), wherein the first coating (16) and the third coating (18) are electrically insulated from each other, and wherein the third coating (18) of the connecting element (4) is electrically and / or thermally connected to the second top-side contact (10) of the semiconductor component (3) by means of a third plurality of nanowires (22).
7. The apparatus (1) according to claim 6, wherein, An electrically insulating separator (24) is arranged at the top side (7) of the semiconductor assembly (3) between the first top side contact (9) and the second top side contact (10).
8. The apparatus (1) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein, The second coating (17) of the connecting element (4) also extends into the second portion (13) of the connecting element (4).
9. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein, The contact (5) is at least partially arranged above the first top-side contact (9) and at least partially arranged above the second top-side contact (10).
10. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein, The third coating (18) of the connecting element (4) is connected to the second contact area (26) of the substrate (2) which is laterally adjacent to the semiconductor component (3).